Zinc alkaline secondary battery including anchored electrolyte additives

ABSTRACT

A zinc alkaline secondary battery includes a positive electrode, a negative electrode including a multi-valent oxide species, a separator system disposed between the electrodes, and an alkaline electrolyte in contact with the negative electrode. The alkaline electrolyte includes hexametaphosphate salt and zinc acetate. Ligands from the hexametaphosphate salt and zinc acetate are anchored to the negative electrode via chelation sites created by the multi-valent oxide species.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to electrolytes and electrodes for zinc-based batteries.

BACKGROUND

The high specific capacity, rapid redox kinetics, compatibility with a variety of electrolytes, low toxicity, abundance and low cost of zinc makes it an attractive electrode material in batteries. While zinc electrodes have been successfully implemented in primary battery applications, extending cycle life is a major challenge with charge/discharge cycling of zinc electrodes in secondary batteries. Limited cycle life is associated with the redistribution of zinc active material (or shape change) and zinc dendrite formation during charge that result in reduced performance and internal shorting within the cell, respectively. These structural changes within the electrode are associated with the migration of soluble zinc species (i.e. Zn(OH)₄ ²—) in the alkaline electrolyte during this reversible electrodeposition process.

SUMMARY

A secondary battery may include a separator assembly disposed between a positive electrode and zinc negative electrode in contact with an alkaline electrolyte including hexametaphosphate salt and zinc acetate additives in the electrolyte and multi-valent oxide additives in the zinc electrode. The combination of electrolyte and electrode additives can improve cycle life compared to dells that do not contain these additives.

An alkaline electrolyte may include potassium hydroxide, sodium hexametaphosphate, and zinc acetate. It may also include additional hydroxide and borate additives. The hexametaphosphate and acetate anions form monodentate and polydentate ligands with the electrode metal cations decreasing zinc/zincate solubility and restricting the mobility of zincate ions. These coordinate complexes at the electrolyte-electrode interface can mitigate shape change of the zinc electrode, reduce zinc dissolution within the alkaline electrolyte, and suppress the formation of zinc passivation layers during discharge.

A negative electrode may include a metal current collector and active material including zinc, zinc oxide, and multi-valent oxide additives such as bismuth, indium, tin, and/or titanium oxide. The multi-valent oxide additives form chelation sites to anchor electrolyte additives of a corresponding electrolyte thereby reducing zinc solubility and inhibiting zinc dendrite growth by promoting uniform zinc electrodeposition.

In one example, a zinc alkaline secondary battery includes a positive electrode, a negative electrode including a multi-valent oxide species, a separator system disposed between the electrodes, and an alkaline electrolyte in contact with the negative electrode. The alkaline electrolyte includes hexametaphosphate salt and zinc acetate. Ligands from the hexametaphosphate salt and zinc acetate are anchored to the negative electrode via chelation sites created by the multi-valent oxide species. A concentration of the hexametaphosphate salt may be less than 0.004 molar. A concentration of the zinc acetate may be less than 0.4 molar. The multi-valent oxide species may be bismuth oxide, indium oxide, tin oxide, titanium oxide, or a combination thereof. The multi-valent oxide species may be 2% to 25% by dry active mass of the negative electrode. The alkaline electrolyte may further include hydroxide. The hydroxide may be potassium hydroxide, cesium hydroxide, indium hydroxide, lithium hydroxide, ruthenium hydroxide, or sodium hydroxide. The alkaline electrolyte may include borate salt, zinc oxide, or a dispersant. The negative electrode may include a borate salt, calcium hydroxide, calcium oxide, calcium zincate, strontium hydroxide, strontium oxide, strontium zincate, zinc oxide, or a combination thereof. The positive electrode may, be a manganese dioxide, nickel hydroxide, oxygen, or silver electrode.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view, in cross-section, of a nickel zinc battery utilizing an alkaline electrolyte including hexametaphosphates, zinc acetate, and multi-valent oxide additives in the negative electrode.

FIG. 2 is a plot comparing utilization versus cycle number for nickel zinc cells with and without electrolyte and zinc electrode additives.

FIG. 3 is a plot comparing utilization versus C-rate for half-cells with and without electrolyte additives.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein. However, the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary and other embodiments may take various and alternative forms that are not explicitly illustrated or described. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one of ordinary skill in the art to variously employ the present invention. As those of ordinary skill in the art will understand, various features illustrated and described with reference to any one of the figures may be combined with features illustrated in one or more other figures to produce embodiments that are not explicitly illustrated or described. The combinations of features illustrated provide representative embodiments for typical applications. However, various combinations and modifications of the features consistent with the teachings of this disclosure may be desired for particular applications or implementations.

Methods that minimize shape change and dendrite growth include minimizing zinc and zincate ion mobility within the electrolyte and reducing the solubility of the zinc electrode. Effective approaches to reduce shape change and electrode solubility involve employing electrode additives, such as bismuth, borate, calcium, indium, lead, mercury, strontium, and tin, and salt additives in the electrolyte, such as acetate, borate, carbonate, phosphates, and sulfate. Zinc-based batteries require one or a combination of these additives to improve cycle life in secondary battery applications.

Electrolytes and electrodes for zinc-based secondary battery cells contemplated herein may contain additives that reduce zinc solubility and inhibit redistribution of active material in the zinc electrode. The combination of electrolyte additives, hexametaphosphate salt and zinc acetate, and multi-valent metal oxide dopants to the zinc electrode can improve cycle life by reducing zinc shape change and dendrite growth during charge/discharge cycling of cells. The hexametaphosphate and acetate anions are chelating agents that form coordinate covalent bonds with metal ions of the multi-valent oxide additives in the negative electrode. These coordinating complexes reduce mobility of zinc species within the electrolyte thereby suppressing shape change of the negative electrode.

A combination of zinc electrode and electrolyte additives were developed to improve the cycle life of batteries with zinc negative electrodes and alkaline electrolytes. FIG. 1 is a schematic of the cross section of an example electrode assembly 10, including anode and cathode structures 12, 14, corresponding current tabs 13, 15, and a separator system 16 (e.g., cellulose based compound, polyamide, polyolefin such as polypropylene and polyethylene, vinyl polymer, or a combination thereof). In this example, the anode structure 12 is a zinc negative electrode with a multi-valent additive, and the cathode structure 14 is a nickel hydroxide positive electrode. Other arrangements, however, are also possible. Specifically, the anode structure 12 includes zinc/zinc oxide 18 (depending on charge/discharge state), a multi-valent oxide species 20 (e.g., bismuth oxide, indium oxide, tin oxide, titanium oxide, or a combination thereof) bound with a binder 22 (e.g., acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene polymer, carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, polyethylene, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl butyral, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene fluoride, polytetrafluoroethylene, or a combination thereof), and a current collector 23. The multi-oxide species 20 may be 2% to 25% dry active mass of the anode structure 12. The cathode structure 14 includes nickel hydroxide 24 bound with a binder 26 and a current collector 27 (e.g., expanded metal, metal foam, or metal foil). The electrode structures 12, 14 are bathed in an alkaline electrolyte 28 that includes hexametaphosphate salt and zinc acetate, which may be at concentrations less than 0.004 molar and 0.4 molar respectively. As such, ligands from the hexametaphosphate salt and zinc acetate are anchored to the anode structure 12 via chelation sites created by the multi-valent oxide species 20.

In certain arrangements, the alkaline electrolyte 28 may also include borate salt, hydroxide (e.g., potassium hydroxide, cesium hydroxide, indium hydroxide, lithium hydroxide, ruthenium hydroxide, or sodium hydroxide), zinc oxide, and/or a dispersant.

Tests performed with nickel-zinc (Ni—Zn) small cells demonstrate the effectiveness of combining electrode and electrolyte additives to enhance cycle life.

Cells were fabricated with and without electrolyte and zinc electrode additives designed to enhance cycle life by reducing zinc solubility and mobility. Both the standard and modified zinc negative electrodes were fabricated with nucleation additives, hydrogen suppression additives, and binder additives. The modified zinc electrode contained an additional tin oxide additive to evaluate cycle life of cells with multivalent oxide additives. The standard electrolyte was a solution composed primarily of potassium hydroxide with lithium hydroxide, and zinc oxide. Zinc acetate and sodium hexametaphosphate additives that mitigate zinc migration and solubility were added to the modified electrolyte.

Results from cycling tests at 100% depth of discharge reveal that cycle life can be increased with these additives. Cycle utilization as a function of cycle number is shown in FIG. 2. Utilization dropped to 95% after 47 cycles for the test cell with the standard electrolyte and electrode that do not contain additives that suppress zinc solubility and migration. A similar decrease in utilization was observed after 105 cycles for the cell with the modified electrode containing tin oxide and after 142 cycles for the cell with the modified electrolyte containing sodium hexametaphosphate and zinc acetate. The most significant increase in cycle lift was exhibited by the cell in which the electrode contained tin oxide and the electrolyte contained sodium hexametaphosphate and zinc acetate additives. This cell with the modified electrolyte and electrode reached 169 cycles before utilization decreased to 95%. The enhancement in cycle number at 95% utilization, with respect to the cell with the standard electrolyte and zinc electrode, corresponds to an increase in cycle life of ˜120% for the cell with the modified zinc electrode, ˜202% for the cell with the modified electrolyte, and ˜260% for the cell with the modified electrolyte and zinc electrode. Taken together, these results confirm that hexametaphosphate and zinc acetate electrolyte additives combined with a zinc electrode containing multi-valent oxides unexpectedly improve Ni—Zn cell life performance under excessive cycling conditions.

Additionally, half-cell tests with Ni(OH)₂ positive electrodes and nickel counter electrodes demonstrate that electrolytes which contain both sodium hexametaphosphate and zinc acetate have higher ionic conductivity within the electrolyte and do not negatively affect reactions at the positive electrode-electrolyte interface. During this test, the half-cell was cyclically charged and discharged at increasing discharge currents (or C-rates) to evaluate electrode and electrolyte performance at various discharge rates. As shown in FIG. 3, electrolytes containing zinc acetate have similar or higher utilization at high C-rates compared to electrolytes without zinc acetate. Although utilization is lower for cells with sodium hexametaphosphate and no zinc acetate, half-cell tests with both electrolyte additives exhibit unexpectedly higher utilization at all of the tested C-rates. Based on these results, the electrochemical reactions at Ni(OH)₂ positive electrodes are improve/more efficient in the presence of both sodium hexametaphosphate and zinc acetate.

The words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure and claims.

As previously described, the features of various embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments that may not be explicitly described or illustrated. While various embodiments may have been described as providing advantages or being preferred over other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more desired characteristics, those of ordinary skill in the art recognize that one or more features or characteristics may be compromised to achieve desired overall system attributes, which depend on the specific application and implementation. These attributes include, but are not limited to cost, strength, durability, life cycle cost, marketability, appearance, packaging, size, serviceability, weight, manufacturability, ease of assembly, etc. As such, embodiments described as less desirable than other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more characteristics are not outside the scope of the disclosure and may be desirable for particular applications. 

1. A zinc alkaline secondary battery comprising: a positive electrode; a negative electrode including a multi-valent oxide species; a separator system disposed between the electrodes; and an alkaline electrolyte in contact with the negative electrode and including hexametaphosphate salt and zinc acetate such that the alkaline electrolyte has a utilization for C-rates from C/6 to 10 greater than an otherwise same alkaline electrolyte without hexametaphosphate salt, without zinc acetate, or without hexametaphosphate salt and zinc acetate, ligands from the hexametaphosphate salt and zinc acetate being anchored to the negative electrode via chelation sites created by the multi-valent oxide species.
 2. The zinc alkaline secondary battery of claim 1, wherein a concentration of the hexametaphosphate salt is less than 0.004 molar.
 3. The zinc alkaline secondary battery of claim 1, wherein a concentration of the zinc acetate is less than 0.4 molar.
 4. The zinc alkaline secondary battery of claim 1, wherein the multi-valent oxide species includes bismuth, indium, tin, titanium, or a combination thereof.
 5. The zinc alkaline secondary battery of claim 1, wherein the multi-valent oxide species are 2% to 25% by dry active mass of the negative electrode.
 6. The zinc alkaline secondary battery of claim 1, wherein the alkaline electrolyte further includes hydroxide.
 7. The zinc alkaline secondary battery of claim 6, wherein the hydroxide is potassium hydroxide, cesium hydroxide, indium hydroxide, lithium hydroxide, ruthenium hydroxide, or sodium hydroxide.
 8. The zinc alkaline secondary battery of claim 1, wherein the alkaline electrolyte includes borate.
 9. The zinc alkaline secondary battery of claim 1, wherein the alkaline electrolyte includes zinc oxide.
 10. The zinc alkaline secondary battery of claim 1, wherein the alkaline electrolyte includes a dispersant.
 11. The zinc alkaline secondary battery of claim 1, wherein the negative electrode includes a borate salt, calcium hydroxide, calcium oxide, calcium zincate, strontium hydroxide, strontium oxide, strontium zincate, zinc oxide, or a combination thereof.
 12. The zinc alkaline secondary battery of claim 1, wherein the positive electrode is a manganese dioxide, nickel hydroxide, oxygen, or silver electrode. 